The Prince's Marriage
by Jin Juhua Lang
Summary: Prince Yuma Tsukumo has run into quite the conundrum. He's set to ascend the throne to his kingdom, but of course there's the cliche catch...he must find a suitable partner if he wishes to become king. As ladies eagerly enter his life, Yuma soon realizes that the person who he holds dearest to his heart is none other than the kingdom's top mage as well as his best friend.


The Prince's Marriage

One-Shot

Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing. Non-profit, educational or personal use tips the balance in favor of fair use.

* * *

The castle was filled with bright festivities. The kingdom of Zexal was preparing to welcome the ascension of their young prince to the throne. However, unbeknownst to them, their precious prince was unqualified. Their prince, Yuma Tsukumo, needed to marry in order to gain the throne. Of course, he thought this a highly unnecessary requirement.

"You're kidding right?" Yuma groaned. "Why do I need a wife, Mother?"

"Honey, it's just tradition," his mother replied with a smile. "Don't worry, I have many lovely ladies waiting to meet you. They will be here tomorrow morning, so make sure you freshen up."

Yuma gave his mother a shocked face. _Tomorrow?_ Just as he was about to make an excuse, his father entered the room with a smile on his face. Yuma watched as his father approached him and proudly placed his hands on both his shoulders.

"Son, I cannot believe that you will soon be wedded," his father announced. "I am proud to see you ascend the throne with the person you will spend the rest of your life with."

Yuma forced a smile for his father and stiffly nodded his head. He bade both his parents good night and left their room briskly. He was in a sour mood. _How am I supposed to pick a girl in one day?_ As he swept down the hallway, he stopped before his door. It wasn't too late, so he decided that he would relieve his complaints on a close friend of his. Keeping this thought in mind, Yuma turned around and headed to the magic wing of the castle. Surely his friend was still awake.

* * *

Astral was busying himself with enchanting weapons when he heard two quick knocks at his door. He did not have to look up to know who was there. "Come in."

Yuma walked in and stared at his friend who still had not turned to look at him. Astral was the top mage in Zexal. He had the ability to float and shone bright blue. Gems decorated parts of his body. Yuma walked over to an empty stool and sat himself down. He rested his arm and head on the table and quietly waited for Astral to finish. Past experiences told him that trying to interrupt Astral now would only lead to a long lecture.

"Is there something bothering you, Prince Tsukumo?" Astral asked. He finished casting his new spell on a broad sword and picked it up. "Are you not excited for tomorrow?" he continued before throwing the sword to Yuma.

Yuma caught the sword by the handle at the last second and sent a friendly glare at his mage. "Astral, it's just Yuma. Stop with the honorifics."

Astral only crossed his arms and stared at Yuma in response.

Yuma looked away and sighed. "I have to pick a wife tomorrow." He waited for Astral to comment on this, but he still remained silent. "Do you think I can just pick someone who will be my friend?"

Astral let out a small chuckle at this. "You value friendship too much Yuma," Astral started. "When you take the crown, the person at your side should be the most important."

Yuma slowly nodded. "Picking that most important person in one day seems impossible though," he groaned.

"We will just have to see," Astral stated. "You may never know who you will meet."

* * *

Yuma smiled stiffly as he prepared to greet the string of ladies that filed into the main hallway. His eyes swept over each girl and came to the conclusion that each one seemed extremely nervous. They were all very dressed up as well, but that was to be expected. He gave a sideway glance to his mother who stood beside him. Her expression was sweet and welcoming as she waved gently to the incoming girls. Yuma refrained from letting out a sigh, but wished his friends, Kaito and Shark, were here with him. Though they gave him the excuse that they just _had_ to deal with military matters.

"Thank you all for coming this morning," Yuma's mother greeted. Her eyes scanned the room from left to right. "We'll have a bit of a mixer so that you'll all be able to meet with my son."

Some of the girls blushed at the simple thought of being able to meet the prince. Yuma forced himself to keep his gaze held up as to not seem rude and even smiled. He only had to get through this mixer and then he'd be free for an hour to track down his friends.

Yuma's mother made a signal and light, classic music began to play. Yuma took this as his cue to descend from his elevated position. The girls fluttered about in their pastel colored dresses as each did double checks on how they looked through discreet glances at cutlery and glasses laid out about some tables.

"Prince Tsukumo!"

Yuma looked up to see a cute blonde with blue eyes. She was heavily blushing, but there was a look of determination in her eyes. Smiling nervously, Yuma rubbed the back of his head before replying, "Yes?"

The other girls stared in obvious envy as Yuma was currently devoting his attention to the blonde. They watched with eagle sharp vision to see if the prince was deciding to favor her.

"I...I...Prince Tsukumo," the blonde stuttered. She looked at her feet and twiddled her fingers before suddenly looking straight up at Yuma. "I like you! Please take care of me!"

Yuma's eyes widened in shock and he was at a loss to what to do, to what to say in response. However, this certainly could not be said for the rest of the girls in the room. Proper lady conduct was thrown out the window as a great majority of the girls began screaming their declarations of love while violently shoving their competition aside. The morning's innocent mixer evolved into an all out brawl.

The girls began crowding around Yuma and he began to panic. Jealous girls were downright terrifying. Before Yuma could become totally swamped though, he was grabbed and jerked from the group of girls. With the loud commotion and raining down of claws, none of the girls seemed to notice his absence and soon guards were rushing to settle the catfight.

"Woah! H-Hey, who are you?" Yuma breathed out as he was pulled after a girl who had an iron grip on his wrist.

The girl who had dark green hair cut into a bob merely looked over her shoulder and smiled at the prince. She turned around just in time to turn a corner and lead Yuma into the castle's garden.

Yuma felt the hand on his wrist finally let go and he immediately stopped, putting his hands on his knees to catch his breath.

"For a prince you are sure out of shape," remarked a feminine voice.

Yuma looked up to see his rescuer standing before him with two hands on her hips. She wore an off the shoulder ruffled, light blue dress. The chest and shoulders were accented with bows and white lace trimmed the edge of the skirt. She winked at him and offered her hand. Yuma was confused but his manners kicked in and he reached out to take the hand offered.

"My name is Kotori Mizuki," the green head greeted. "And I just saved you."

Yuma arched a brow, but bit back any sharp remarks he could have made. "I am Yuma Tsukumo, the prince of this kingdom as I'm sure you already know."

Kotori grinned, pulling her hand from Yuma's grasp. "Of course, _my Prince._ I'm sorry for being so rough with you."

Yuma returned her grin with a wry smile. "Did you just get me alone to convince me of all the wonderful reasons of why I should pick you as my bride?"

Giggling, Kotori shook her head. "No! That's not what I was planning at all!" she shot back jokingly. Kotori reached out and cupped Yuma's cheek as she leaned in. "Surely that was not my plan, even with a prince as handsome as you."

Yuma reached up to take Kotori's hand in his but she quickly slipped away and pranced further into the castle's manicured garden. She twirled on the heel of her feet to turn and smile at him. Yuma couldn't help but be memorized by her carefree smile and the simple way of how her light blue dress flared out with her twirling. He found himself chasing after her.

* * *

"There you are Astral!"

Astral turned from the window he was gazing out of to catch sight of a purple haired male accompanied by a taller blonde and blue haired male. His eyes regarded them silently, but all could tell the three of them were close friends. After nodding his acknowledgement his pair of gold and white eyes returned to whatever had captured his attention out the window.

Shark raised an eyebrow before glancing sideways at Kaito. He slowly approached the magician and stood beside him. His eyes widened at the sight below him. Astral turned to watch Shark's expression turn humorous.

"Hn, is that Yuma down there?" Kaito mused as he joined the other two at the window. "And a girl?"

"Must be one of the girls from this morning's mixer," Shark added. He started chuckling when Yuma fell flat on his face after failing to catch the green-haired girl. "Always making a fool of himself."

Astral sighed a little and nodded in agreement. He pushed off from the window and began to leave, though not before Shark caught his shoulder. Astral looked back, slightly annoyed at being stopped.

"Are you okay with this?" Shark asked, seriousness evident in his blue eyes.

Astral shrugged off Shark's hand. "Of course. If Yuma's content, then so am I." His eyes flitted to Kaito who leaned against the wall beside the window while crossing his arms. "I'm fine, really," Astral stated with finality.

Shark and Kaito silently watched Astral float away from them. They turned back to the window to see Yuma conversing with the green-haired girl in an animated way. They really had no say in who Yuma chose to succeed with him, but they were more than obliged to drop their prince some obvious hints.

* * *

Kotori smiled, content with the moment as she gazed up at the sky. Suddenly her body jolted beside Yuma, causing him to turn to her. Kotori immediately stood up and brushed off any dirt from the skirt of her dress.

"Is something wrong?" Yuma asked, standing up to join her.

"Oh nothing really," Kotori said while laughing a bit. "I just have to return to the other ladies. We had other activities planned today, but it was really nice getting to know you, Prince Tsukumo."

Yuma nodded in agreement. He really didn't want to say anything because he was unsure of her position as of now. Did she think she was definitely going to be picked by him? Sure she was fun to hang out with, but...

 _When you take the crown, the person at your side should be the most important._

"I'll walk you back," Yuma offered as the two began walking back to the castle.

* * *

Kotori smiled sweetly as she waved towards Yuma who was retreating further back into the castle. She sighed lightly, already developing feelings for the young prince. He wasn't as stuck up as she initially thought he was going to be.

"Miss Mizuki?"

Kotori turned to be greeted by two handsome men. She blinked a couple of times before finally regaining her composure. "Ah, yes, that would be me."

"I am Shark," the purple-haired man greeted. "This is Kaito and we are both military generals of this kingdom."

Kotori tilted her head in slight astonishment. Why did they feel the need to introduce themselves to her? "It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance."

Kaito nodded. "We also happen to be close advisors to Prince Tsukumo as well." Kaito took in Kotori's shocked expression before continuing on. "We would like to show you something, if you are not against it."

* * *

Astral busied himself with enchanting weapon after weapon. The intensive process kept his mind off of the prince who he truly wished would not plague his mind. After seeing Yuma with the girl, Astral came to the realization that his prince would really be better off with a normal noble girl than anything else. Who was he to deny Yuma that happiness?

He dropped another dagger neatly with others he had enchanted. Surely the army wouldn't mind a small surplus of magical weapons. He pulled a spear off the wall and laid it across his enchanting table, slowly running his fingers down the metal tip.

"Astral!"

At first Astral was too memorized with his thoughts to respond to the voice. Loud footsteps approaching his room however drew him from his mind as he turned just in time to see Yuma appear at his doorway. He let out an internal groan.

Yuma offered his best friend a small smile, already able to tell something was off with the magician. "I'm sorry if I'm bothering you, but I really wanted to see you right now."

Astral couldn't help but be floored by Yuma's innocent words. He shook his head and turned back to the spear, but he was too shaken up to return to his enchanting. "Is something bothering you, Prince Tsukumo?" Astral inquired, colder than usual.

Yuma pouted at the name, oblivious to the wall that Astral seemed to be putting up. "Yuma. It's Yuuuuuuumaaaaaa," he drawled out. He looked at Astral who still had his back turned to him. Teetering a bit on his heel, he looked down nervously before asking, "When you told me that I needed the most important person next to me, what did you mean?"

Astral stiffened. He looked over his shoulder to see a wide-eyed Yuma staring hopefully back at him all while holding onto the doorframe. Sighing Astral turned to lean on his enchanting table and crossed his arms. "It simply means whoever you hold dearest to your heart."

Yuma took in Astral's words carefully, but before he could ask anymore questions Astral interrupted him.

"Is it that girl you were with?" Astral tried to ask nonchalantly.

"Huh?" Yuma replied. _A girl...who...oh..._ Yuma thought. "Ummm, well you see-"

"If that girl is dearest to your heart, then you have found the person to spend the rest of your life with," Astral continued. He turned again to pick up the spear, preparing to put it back on the wall. No more enchanting would be done tonight.

Yuma started to panic, sure that Astral was misunderstanding him. "No, I don't think you under-"

"Yuma," Astral said lowly, effectively cutting off the prince. "You shouldn't lie to me."

Yuma furrowed his eyebrows in frustration. "Astral, I'm not ly-"

"Shouldn't you head back to bade her goodbye for the day," Astral interrupted once again. "Evening is approaching and the ladies must be preparing to leave. You wouldn't want to leave her-"

"It's not her!" Yuma finally yelled, cutting into Astral's mindless rant. "I don't think of her when I think of the most important person!" Yuma's mind was a mess, but it seemed to know what it wanted to say in this moment. "When I think of that...that person...I think of..."

Astral got over his initial shock at Yuma's outburst and looked curiously at the prince.

"You," Yuma whispered almost barely audible to Astral.

Astral couldn't process Yuma's words, though he well heard them.

"I'm very busy right now Prince Tsukumo," Astral stated in a monotone voice, resorting back to using honorifics. "I think you should leave."

Yuma finally found himself at a loss for words. Maybe telling Astral wasn't such a great idea, but it was the truth! Yuma steeled himself for the worst by refusing to leave. "Do you really mean that?"

"Leave."

Yuma shook his head and bit his lip before turning to leave the room. He decided that he would let Astral do whatever thinking he had to and then he would approach him again. He needed time to do some thinking as well.

* * *

Kotori listened to the tense exchange while covering her mouth in slight shock. She had no idea that Yuma had someone special to him, but she should have realized being that Yuma seemed to type to hold close those dear to him. She sighed, knowing that she might as well play a role in helping the two get together.

"Mmm, okay, I understand," Kotori stated while turning to the other two. "If it'll make Yuma happy, I'll do what I can to help."

Shark's face broke into a grin. "That's great to hear. I'm glad you understand."

Before Kaito could offer his two cents, Kotori rubbed both of her hands together. "Do you mind if I stay the night? I need to talk to this Astral tomorrow."

Shark nodded. "We can arrange that." He turned to Kaito. "Go see if Yuma is doing okay, I'll lead Miss Mizuki to her room."

* * *

Astral truly felt confused. He had spent the night pondering over his exchange with Yuma. The right thing to do was refuse Yuma. Yuma was most likely just confused over his own feelings, though Astral admitted that he couldn't fully understand the Prince's feelings either. He got up early as usual and prepared the weapons he had enchanted the night before for delivery to the armory.

"Umm, hello? Is anyone here?"

Astral stopped his actions and looked up. The voice certainly did not sound familiar to him. He left a bundle of daggers on his table before walking to his door and opening it. Of course the person beyond the door had to be the girl who had spent the day with the prince. He stopped himself from rudely closing the door.

"Can I help you with anything?" Astral offered, fighting to maintain a cool politeness.

Kotori turned and feigned surprise upon spotting Astral. "Actually yes, if you don't mind," she started and began walking towards the blue entity. "I'm looking for a person named Astral."

Astral arched a brow. "That would be me."

Kotori internally bit her lip. "Uh wow! Fancy meeting you here!" Kotori greeted, making sure that a smile was present on her face. "Prince Tsukumo has said so much about you!"

"Yuma," Astral muttered under his breath. He gave Kotori the once-over and decided that she wasn't exactly bad looking. "Hmm, did he call for me?"

"No," Kotori admitted, doing her best to seem nonchalant. "It's just that he's said so much about you that I decided I had to meet you!"

Astral looked at Kotori, obviously unconvinced. "Do you need help getting back to the main part of the castle?"

Kotori let out a small giggle. "No, but thank you! You're as kind as Yuma says!" She watched as Astral seemed to wince at her words. "Though I was wondering if you've noticed that Yuma has really..." Kotori began but skillfully let her words draw off.

Astral noticed that the girl had switched to calling Yuma by his first name. He pushed that observation away and instead asked, "Is there something wrong with him?"

Kotori smiled, closing her eyes. _Got him._ "He just seemed really down and I heard from some of the servants that he was planning on leaving the kingdom for awhile." She watched gleefully as Astral's expression changed from indifferent to panicky.

 _That idiot,_ Astral thought as he began to float past Kotori. "I'm sorry, but I'm needed elsewhere right now."

Kotori refrained from waving good-bye as Astral swiftly left her presence.

* * *

"Kaito," Yuma said cautiously.

"Hmm?"

"What are you doing?"

Kaito shot Yuma an exasperated look as if whatever he was doing was a common sense thing. "I told you, we are doing charity by donating the clothes that you don't wear anymore."

Yuma sweat dropped a little. "Okay, but why are you putting the clothes in my suitcases?"

Kaito ignored him and continued carelessly _packing_ Yuma's clothes away. He glanced at the door, wondering if the magician was ever going to show himself. Just about to give up with throwing around Yuma's clothes, Kaito smiled when the door finally swung open.

Yuma turned in surprise at the abrupt intrusion and unease slowly crept along his face once he realized who had opened the door.

"Yuma," Astral breathed. He looked around the room and took note of the all the suitcases that were packed full of clothes, which effectively served to ignite Astral's anger. He floated across the room and took hold of Yuma's wrist before roughly pulling him out of the room. Astral tried to contain his anger, but of course he knew that Yuma could sense his difference in mood.

"Eh!? Astral!" Yuma started, obvious in his shock at how Astral was acting. "Where are we going?"

Astral waited until they were far enough to not get interrupted by noisy servants before pushing Yuma up against the wall. He didn't even have to look to know that the two of them were alone in the hallway. Yuma looked up at Astral, unsure of the sudden physical closeness between them.

"You are childish, Yuma," Astral whispered, his breath tickling Yuma's face.

Yuma was beyond baffled. He quickly became angry though. "I am not the childish one here, Astral. You are the one who refuses to see what we are."

"We are nothing," Astral snapped. "Nothing more than simple friends."

Yuma felt his cheeks heat up at Astral words and tears began to sting his eyes. "Of course I see you as a friend," he started, looking down while he talked. "But when I think of the most important person to me, you are the only one who comes to mind! When I think of who I want to spend my days ruling the kingdom with, it's you!" Yuma's hands created fists at his sides as he choked out, "I only see you."

Astral looked down at Yuma and dropped his hands from the boy's shoulders. He placed a hand on Yuma's chin and tilted his head so that he could see his face. Tears had already poured from the depths of Yuma's eyes and Astral couldn't help but feel a pang of guilt upon witnessing them.

"Yuma," Astral stated quietly, gently wiping away the prince's tears with his thumbs. "You don't want-mmph!"

Yuma had placed both his hands over Astral's mouth. "Shut up! Don't put your words in my mouth!" He looked up at Astral through his tears. "Wherever you go...I always...I always want to follow you!" He let his hands fall. "So, please, please don't push me away." After a moment's pause, Yuma added, "Don't leave me."

Astral was about to reply with another refusal when he was suddenly tackled by Yuma. Yuma hugged tightly to Astral's torso, crying harder. Astral sighed and finally returned the hug. He placed a hand behind Yuma's head and pulled him closer, nuzzling his face in Yuma's awkward hair.

"If it's what you want, then keep chasing me."

* * *

"Soooo, that's it," Yuma said, his cheeks red with embarrassment.

Yuma's mother and father stared at their son in amazement. Finally his mother started laughing. His father just grinned stupidly.

"I knew you were going to end up together!" Yuma's mother got out through her laughing. She turned to her husband. "Pay up!"

Yuma's father pouted. "Ah gee, alright." He turned to Yuma with a glint in his eye. "I thought you were going to choose Kaito."

If possible, Yuma's cheeks became even redder. "Y-You two were betting on who I was going to end up with?"

Both his parents nodded and fell over in their glee. Yuma averted his gaze and found his feet quickly leaving the room. As he closed the door he could here his father trying to bargain to get his paying price to a lower amount. Suddenly, he was pulled by his waist to be flushed against another body. Yuma looked up to see Astral looking down at him with a calm smile.

"I see that went well," Astral stated, keeping his arms secure around Yuma's waist.

"Yeah," Yuma pouted. "I can't believe they were making bets though."

Astral only closed his eyes in silent happiness. When he opened them his eyes shone with possessiveness. "Remember what you said? I'll make sure you keep _following me_."

Yuma returned Astral's words with a grin. "Don't worry, I'll bring it to you!"

* * *

Okay first things first! This is a one-shot! I do not plan to anything more with this story whatsoever. Next thing on the list is that this is for a friend! The very next thing on the list is that I...well I didn't really watch the anime...at all...so I really tried my best with the characterizations and I deeply apologize if anything seems off. I also dabbled with reading other Zexal fanfiction to better understand the characters as well. If you know my other works...I don't do Yu-gi-oh, but again, this is dedicated for my friend. I really hope that you enjoyed the story though! I have to admit though...I was really disappointed in myself for writing a K rated work. I usually do T because I'm more comfortable with it, but with this particular pairing...it was...really weird for me to write so I couldn't add the intimacy I usually do when I write fluff. If you really like this one-shot, leave a review to tell me your thoughts! I love hearing them! Thanks for reading!

-Jin Juhua Lang


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